tions it was for many the intellectual
exercise, for more the emotional lift, and for all the unfailing
distraction of the week. The repressed magnetic excitement in gatherings
of familiar faces, fellow-beings bound by the same convention to the
same kind of behaviour, is precious in communities where the human
interest is still thin and sparse. It is valuable in itself, and it
produces an occasional detached sensation. There was the case, in Dr
Drummond's church, of placid-faced, saintly old Sandy MacQuhot, the
epileptic. It used to be a common regret with Lorne Murchison that as
sure as he was allowed to stay away from church Sandy would have a
fit. That was his little boy's honesty; the elders enjoyed the fit and
deprecated the disturbance.

There was a simple and definite family feeling within communions. "They
come to our church" was the argument of first force whether for calling
or for charity. It was impossible to feel toward a Congregationalist or
an Episcopalian as you felt toward one who sang the same hymns and
sat under the same admonition week by week, year in and year out, as
yourself. "Wesleyans, are they?" a lady of Knox Church would remark of
the newly arrived, in whom her interest was suggested. "Then let the
Wesleyans look after them." A pew-holder had a distinct status; an
"adherent" enjoyed friendly consideration, especially if he adhered
faithfully; and stray attendants from other congregations were treated
with punctilious hospitality, places being found for them in the Old
Testament, as if they could hardly be expected to discover such things
for themselves. The religious interest had also the strongest domestic
character in quite another sense from that of the family prayers which
Dr Drummond was always enjoying. "Set your own house in order and then
your own church" was a wordless working precept in Elgin. Threadbare
carpet in the aisles was almost as personal a reproach as a hole
under the dining-room table; and self-respect was barely possible to a
congregation that sat in faded pews. The minister's gown even was the
subject of scrutiny as the years went on. It was an expensive thing to
buy, but an oyster supper would do it and leave something over for the
organ. Which brings us to the very core and centre of these activities,
their pivot, their focus and, in a human sense, their inspiration--the
minister himself.

The minister was curiously special among a people so general; he was in
a ma